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7 February 2015

Innis and Gunn Treacle Porter (Aldi) [By @SpectreUK]

This oak aged Treacle Porter beer from Innis and Gunn was brewed, hence the name, with treacle to a hundred year old Scottish recipe. It was provided by a friend of Cinabar who seems to like buying me the odd beer. It's a hard life, but I do try to run with it! At 7.4% volume in a 330ml bottle too many of these beers and I doubt I'll be able to walk in a straight line, let alone run. On opening the bottle I noted the rich maltiness described on the posh box the beer was packaged in, and a hint of orange mixed in with the thick chocolate malt. Oozing around this lush smell was a certain smokiness that reminded me of bonfire night and the sweet treacle toffee I enjoyed when I was a child. Of course I'm still partial to anything sweet and so I excitedly poured this lively almost black beer out into my beer glass and raised it to Cinabar's friend. "Cheers!", and I took a big swig. There was quite a strong hoppy bitterness to this beer that danced cheerfully around the thick rich treacle, sweet toffee undertones and dark chocolate malty flavours. The smokiness touched my tastebuds in the aftertaste making this a most pleasurable flavoursome ride. The trouble with the size of bottle was the fact that I was so busy analysing the complex flavours of this dark warming porter I'd almost finished the glass before I knew it. A hearty warming beer and no mistake. Enjoy it while it lasts and don't forget to buy a second bottle, so you're not too upset when you see the end of the first!